by Gavin Zanker
About the Author
Gavin Zanker is a science fiction author with a love of stories, especially the ones where the hero dies at the end. He spends his time drinking tea while waiting for the apocalypse in a quiet corner of England, where it rains a lot but not nearly enough. You can contact him and find news of his work at the links below.
Website: https://gavinzanker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GavinZanker
Email: [email protected]
Solace Within Preview
In a wasteland where empathy gets you killed, what does it mean to be human?
While exploring a long-sealed bunker, the intrepid loner Aiden Fielding uncovers a strange artefact, setting off a catastrophic chain of events.
He is befriended by Leigh, a spirited young girl whose optimism and naivety creates perilous friction for both of them. Through whisperings of the unleashed power, Aiden soon draws the attention of dangerous figures from his past - those who would see the world in ruins to possess what he unwillingly holds. Can the unlikely pair solve the mystery of the artefact before the encircling threat spirals beyond their control and destroys everything they’ve ever known?
Buy Solace Within, the second book in the post-apocalyptic Fielding Series, to experience a character driven, fast-paced, gritty adventure that will keep you hooked until the final page.
AIDEN STALKED DEEPER into the house, spreading his weight to avoid the broken floorboards creaking. He peered around the first doorway into a living room. It was cluttered with junk and tattered furniture. A framed portrait hung over a cracked glass aquarium, another red snake logo sprayed over the face. As Aiden turned away, a hiss came from the room, and he looked back to see a small green snake slither out from under a cabinet, its forked tongue flicking out as it glided across the floor.
Aiden ignored it and continued along the corridor, passing more empty rooms. As he neared a door left ajar, he heard two distinct voices arguing on the other side. Peering through the gap, he caught a glimpse of a figure moving around a table.
‘But why do you get the shiny, Stonewall?’ a shrill voice demanded. ‘We were all there, we should all get a piece.’
‘Because when Val’s not here, I’m in charge,’ another voice said, much deeper than the first. ‘And that means I get to pick whatever I want. Besides, I’m the one that found the camp.’
‘Well I still think we should’ve at least set an ambush. We could’ve come back with enough food for a week.’
‘Look, Mouse, if you want to go try your luck, then feel free to step up to me.’ An intense silence filled the room. ‘That’s what I thought. Now stop your whining.’
‘I’m tired of you two idiots bickering,’ a female voice said. ‘I’m going out back to get some wood for the fire. There’re too many drafts in this sodding house.’
A door opened and closed as someone stepped outside. Aiden heard more clattering as things were tossed around on the table.
‘I’m starving,’ the one called Mouse said, his shrill voice cracking slightly as he spoke. ‘What about the waif, can’t we eat her?’
‘Not enough meat. Plus she’s Val’s pet, and you know what she’d do to you if she caught you up there.’
‘When will Val be back with the hunting party?’ Mouse whined. ‘Soon right? You reckon she’ll bring food with her?’
‘She’s not a useless cripple like you, so I expect so.’
‘What about some Echo then, at least let me have a hit to take the edge off.’
‘If you touch my stash, Mouse, I swear I’ll lock you in one of the aquariums with the snakes again.’
Aiden had heard enough. He swung the door open and strode inside, pistol raised. Scanning the corners, he found himself in a grimy kitchen with a cracked tile floor. Empty cupboards lined the walls, all missing their fronts. The two men standing at the table froze. One had a facial twitch and held his twisted arm, while the other was a barrel-shaped man with a heavy-set jaw and tattoos inked across his broad nose.
‘Who might you be?’ the tattooed one asked.
‘You took some things that don’t belong to you,’ Aiden said, nodding towards his gear scattered across the table.
‘Ah, you must be the one from the camp.’ The man’s tattoo creased as he grinned. ‘Welcome to Red Hill, or Red Hell as I like to call it. I’m Stonewall, this here is Mouse. Why don’t you stay for supper?’ Stonewall licked his bottom lip slowly as he looked Aiden up and down. ‘I’m sure we can sort out this little misunderstanding.’
‘I’m not looking for trouble,’ Aiden said, his voice low. ‘I’ll just be taking my equipment back and leaving.’
‘It’s like that then?’ Stonewall said. ‘See here’s the problem. This is our stuff now, and you’re in our house. That means you don’t leave until we say so. So you may as well pull up a chair, because you’re not going anywhere.’
‘I’m not staying,’ Aiden said, staring at Stonewall over the barrel of his pistol, ‘and I don’t see anyone that can stop me from dropping you right here.’
Stonewall laughed nervously, no humour in the sound, as a bead of sweat stood out on his forehead. The cripple looked back and forth, fidgeting from foot to foot as he clutched his arm in the tense silence.
His gaze flicked past Aiden to the corridor.
Aiden caught the movement and spun around, dropping to his knee as he saw a dark skinned woman creeping up behind him with a golf club in hand. She must have looped around the house to try and get the jump on him. She paused as she saw the pistol pointed at her. Then she snarled, raised the golf club above her head in a double handed grip and charged. Aiden squeezed the trigger, and the woman toppled forwards as the bullet entered her forehead.
Turning back to the kitchen, Aiden saw the wide-eyed cripple struggling to draw the junk pistol in his belt. Aiden fired twice at the man’s chest, causing him to slump to the tiles.
Stonewall flipped the table and dived behind it. ‘Can’t we talk about this?’ he called out as Aiden heard the sound of a weapon being loaded behind the table.
Aiden ducked back behind the kitchen doorway as a deafening shotgun blast slammed into the wall. He blind fired a few rounds from his pistol around the corner, the bullets striking the wooden table. When he heard a grunt of pain, he darted into the room, skirting around the table with his pistol levelled.
Stonewall lay on his back, one hand pressed against the crimson that spread across his chest while the other flailed weakly for a sawn-off shotgun that had fallen just out of reach. Aiden stepped forward, kicking the firearm and sending it skittering across the broken tiles. He spotted his blanket which had fallen to the floor, and picked it up before blood seeped onto the fabric.
‘You shot me… for a blanket?’ Stonewall said, his voice coming in sharp gasps.
Aiden looked at his blanket then back to the man. ‘I like this blanket,’ he said, aiming his pistol down.
‘Wait, please-’
‘Too late,’ Aiden said coldly, ‘you had your chance.’
The bullet took Stonewall between the eyes. He slumped back, lying motionless as blood pooled around his body.
Solace Within is now available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073N221FV
Bibliography
THE FIELDING SERIES
Forged in the Dawn, The Fielding Series #1
Solace Within, The Fielding Series #2
Zenith Rising, The Fielding Series #3
OTHER WORKS
A Funeral of Feuds
Copyright
FORGED IN THE DAWN
Copyright © 2016 Gavin Zanker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organisations, places, e
vents, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
EPILOGUE
Newsletter
Reviews
About the Author
Preview
Bibliography
Copyright